Reality Is Just A Perception
by Kushinada Uzumaki
Summary: AU; Fem!Naru. Alternate Reality Travel! After clashing at the Valley of The End once more, the last thing Uzumaki Hotaru thought would happen was being shot into another timeline and reality along with Sasuke. Can she keep her Sasuke in Konoha, and change the near identical timelines course of events for her younger counterpart? Sasuke/Fem!Naru.
1. Chapter 1

**AN: So, a new story. **

**I know I shouldn't, I already have so many to work on. But I've had this chapter ready for a while now and it wouldn't leave me alone until I uploaded it. It is a Sasuke/Fem!Naru. **

**I'm not too sure about this story though. I know where I want to take it, but I'm unsure if it's got the potential my other stories do. So I would appreciate the feedback on what you think. **

**Another thing, this Fem!Naru is a bit different from my usual female Naruto's. Usually they look a lot like Kushina but with Minato's coloring. They also keep the name Naruto. **

**This Fem!Naru is different. She's basically the same in personality, and features, but instead of blonde hair highlighted red her hair is red with natural highlights that make it seem almost like her hair is highlighted orange in the sun.**

**Another big difference is that her name is Hotaru. **

**Hotaru is one of my favorite names and means Firefly, another reason why I chose it. **

**One other thing, I used Lightning Farron from Final Fantasy to portray Hotaru. her outfit will basically be the same as well if one wants a better idea of what it looks like other than my description in the story. **

**I chose her instead of an edited picture of Kushina because Lightning reminds me of a blend of Kushina and Minato when it comes to looks. At least for this story and Hotaru.  
**

**As for Uzu no Musume, the next chapter for it will be up in a day or two. Same can be said for Eternal Spiral. I can't be sure about ********Kitsunemūn** or Breaking Point as Uzu no Musume and Eternal Spiral are my main priorities. Though I try to update them as equally as I can. 

**Anyways, I've rambled enough, enjoy! **

* * *

**Red Moon Arc.**

**Reality Is Just A Perception.**

**Chapter 1: Yin and Yang.**

If you asked her what had happened to find herself in this situation, she'd tell you to draw you own conclusions. Mostly because she wasn't exactly sure what had happened, but she wasn't about to admit that.

What she did know?

The collision between two powerful attacks and everything had changed. Hotaru knew it the moment she woke up in a familiar training ground, and sat up only to find she wasn't alone.

First, Sasuke stood above her, sword pointed point first at the hollow of her throat. Two, behind him were four very familiar shocked people. Very familiar. One who looked like Sakura at thirteen, same for Sasuke.

Even a Kakashi-sensei look alike, and for some reason the last was a boy with a hair style similar to the one she'd worn as a small child before growing it out.

Cerulean blue eyes. Whisker marks. Face shape, hell, if the boy had been a girl it would be her at that age, minus the blonde hair seeing as hers was a striking shade of red.

Strange.

"Sasu-ke?" a stuttering voice she recognized as Sakura said and Sasuke's onyx eyes widened as he turned slightly to see the group she had.

His Sharingan red eyes widened only slightly, she barely even noticed, and Hotaru breathed deeply, her hands behind her on the ground. Glancing at the blade at her throat she groaned.

"What is this? Who are you two, why do you look like an Uchiha?" Kakashi-sensei demanded, his visible eye narrowed and cold.

"Kakashi-sensei! Why does that guy look like the teme!" the blonde boy yelled out.

Hotaru blinked in surprise and Sasuke – both it seemed, younger and older – twitched, though the her version more visibly.

"I didn't realize you had a brother, Hotaru," Sasuke said, grinding his teeth.

Hotaru glared, and said, "Oi, teme, get your sword away from my throat!"

Turning back to her, the last Uchiha smirked.

"And why should I do that, _Taru-chan?_" he said the last bit mockingly and she hissed.

"Because, I can think of a few things I can do to make sure the Uchiha line ends with you if you don't."

It was faint, but Sasuke paled a little and he sneered momentarily as he removed his blade from her throat and sheathed it back at his side.

"Hey, you do look kind of like me!" the blonde boy said, his eyes wide as he came closer to look at her.

Hotaru did indeed look like the boy, but of course female. Her features were softer, but also a tiny bit more sharp. Her chin wasn't quite as round as his, but not quite as pointed as her father – Namikaze Minato. They had the same skin tone, a light tan, and messy hair.

Though his was by far spikier and messier than hers which fell relatively straight to her mid-back (after an fight with Sasuke where he'd cut off the cafe length locks to her shoulders eight months ago) and sort of spiked to the left. A few had said it was almost windswept in the way it naturally fell.

Her hair was also a light yet bright red that almost seemed to have an orange-ish highlight to it in the sun. The mix of her mother's darker bright red hair and father's sunshine blond – the same blond hair color she saw on the boy a few feet from her.

They both had the same bright blue eyes and whisker marks.

"Naruto, don't. We don't know who they are, they could be from another village," Kakashi said, walking forward both eyes now visible.

"I think I asked you both a question," Kakashi said. "Who are you, why do you appear to be related to my two students?"

Sasuke narrowed his eyes, which seemed to lack even more emotion than the younger version of himself.

"I don't answer to imposters."

Hotaru snorted.

"Are you seriously an Uchiha, teme?" she demanded. "Look at them, and around us. This can't be a genjutsu. I've already tried disrupting it anyways. Not to mention, if they were going to use a genjutsu on us to make us see the past, why would they replace me with a boy?"

"You can't be an Uchiha," the younger Sasuke snapped, glaring at them, or more like Sasuke. "I'm the last one, besides _that man_."

She saw Sasuke's eyes spark in recognition and surprise for a matter of moments and he turned back to Kakashi as if to ignore his younger self. After a moment he turned to her, she herself having had stood up and was slightly behind him at his side.

"It's not a genjutsu," he said, frowning. "What did you do, dobe?"

"Hey!" Naruto yelled, thinking the older looking version of his friend meant him.

To his surprise the redheaded girl had spoke up as well.

"I don't think we're anywhere near our home," she said. "It reminds me of the technique Madara used to send me and Sakura into an alternate reality. I suppose if that one existed, more exist. As for how?"

Hotaru shrugged and answered, "I guess it could have been the power of our Rasengan and Chidori colliding, possibly the leaking of Kurama's power as well."

Kakashi nearly took a step back at the two strangers conversation. It had struck him the moment they arrived how much the dark haired boy, who seemed seconds from killing the girl, looked like Sasuke, just a few years older.

He knew it couldn't be real, but the boy also had a Sharingan, and there was no faking that.

There was also the fact the girl looked so much like someone he'd never thought he'd see again – Uzumaki Kushina, yet at the same time he saw his sensei, Minato, in her. She truly did look like Naruto, with obvious differences.

Now they were talking about different realities and two techniques he knew only he and Jiraiya of the sannin knew how to do, much less put into a conversation like that.

"It's impossible," he said.

Hotaru and Sasuke both snorted.

"We're ninja," Hotaru said. "Nothing is impossible. Or at least, very little is."

Sasuke nodded, and deactivated his Sharingan, to prove that they were his true eyes in case the supposedly alternate version of his old sensei thought they might be transplants.

He saw the silver-white haired man flinch at this, and his younger self stiffen.

He didn't blame him exactly, he probably reminded the boy a little of Itachi – the two had always shared a great resemblance, so much so Hotaru had mistaken Itachi for him at their first meeting after so many years, when Itachi had first tried to take Hotaru for the Kyuubi to be extracted.

The biggest differences was Sasuke had always looked a little more like their mother than Itachi did.

"Who are you?" Sakura asked, looking between them in some fear and curiosity.

"Sakura," Sasuke said, "still annoying even in this reality."

Sakura was struck by the words, and thought back a few months before to when they'd first became a team.

_'You're annoying'_ Sasuke had told her before leaving.

"Sasuke?" she asked, her eyes wide.

"Hn," Sasuke said. "I am Uchiha Sasuke, you can already guess we're not from this reality."

"How do you know that? Couldn't it just be your past, if this is true that is?" the younger Sasuke asked.

Hotaru snorted.

"If the blonde boy is who I think he is, then it's pretty obvious it's a different reality from our own," she said, and than smiled. "I'm Uzumaki Hotaru, by the way."

Naruto wasn't the only one shocked, eyes wide.

"Are... are you related to me somehow?" he asked, looking at her, and tilting his head some.

She didn't look older than this alternate Sasuke, both about seventeen or eighteen. So, unless she came from another time unlike the boy who was supposed to be an older Sasuke, he doubted she was his mother.

Maybe a sister?

The hopeful look in his wide eyes was not unnoticed by any of them, and Hotaru looked at him sadly before grinning.

"Sort of. I'm you, or at least the possibility of you if you'd been born a girl," she said.

Naruto's mouth fell open and chuckling she began to unbuckle her form fitting sleeveless white and tan coat, which sat over top a black zipper sleeveless turtle neck.

There also seemed to be a dark red cape attached to her coat or shoulder somehow and though they couldn't see the back, if they could they'd see a rather large Uzumaki spiral in orange-red.

On her right shoulder was a forest green metallic pauldron with two orange stripes – a strange fashion statement, but seemed to suit her.

She had a tan thigh length skirt and under it was black form fitting spandex-like shorts that came to about mid-thigh, if not a little shorter.

On her right leg was a red leather pouch with more than one compartment, that connected to her leg with multiple straps and to the left side of her waist, possibly to her belt, so it seemed to sit off her hip despite it not being a hip pouch.

Which she didn't seem to have.

Her hands had dark blue fingerless gloves which had metal plates on the back. The gloves stopped a few inches above her wrist and under the gloves were black leather arm warmers that went up a few inches past the elbow.

Her feet were covered by boots, that were black and tan and had buckles and reinforced metal shin guards.

Once she'd unbuckled the darker belt that buckled under her breast (which had to be a medium to large C-cup) she lifted her black shirt up to a few inches below her bust.

The skin was muscular in a feminine way, showing she was active much like all ninja were, and had a navel piercing. Seconds later they realized she was channeling chakra and slowly a spiral like seal appeared on her stomach around her navel.

Kakashi and Naruto's eyes widened. They knew exactly what that was, and there was absolutely no way to fake one.

"I can't believe this," Kakashi muttered, looking from Hotaru who lowered her tattered black shirt back down over her stomach.

Actually, now that he actually looked at them both of their clothes were torn and scuffed, like they'd been fighting. Considering this older Sasuke had a sword at her throat, he'd bet they had been.

They had also mentioned a Rasengan and Chidori colliding, two attacks like that colliding, and adding bijū chakra...who knew what could happen.

Which made him question. Had they been sparing, or trying to kill each other?

"It's just like mine," Naruto muttered, though he'd only seen the seal once and that was when Hokage-jiji had wanted to see it the night after the Mizuki incident.

"What is it?" Sasuke asked, though he was still glaring at his alternate self.

On his half, the older Sasuke was simply ignoring his younger self. Which annoyed Sasuke even more.

"It's... a seal," Hotaru said hesitantly. "I've had it since I was born, it's unique to me. So it proves that I am who I claim to be, since no one else could possibly have the same seal."

Naruto nodded, and than grinned.

"Right, Nee-chan!" he exclaimed, and Hotaru blinked at the blondes exclamation and use of sister. She knew she'd been accepting at his age, but not that accepting. "But I do have one question. Why is your hair red?"

Sasuke – both of them – snorted, and Kakashi smiled a little under his mask. Sakura looked as if she were contemplating violence against the blonde.

Hotaru laughed.

"Genetics, I guess. You could have had red hair as well, it's a recessive gene. If you have kids there is a chance they'd have red hair, even if you don't. As for why... because Kaachan had red hair."

Hotaru shrugged but knew something was wrong when the boys gaped at her with wide eyes.

"Kaa-chan?" he stuttered out. "You know who our parents are?"

"You don't?" she asked.

Kakashi coughed, drawing attention back to him.

"I'm afraid that's something of a classified secret... uh Hotaru wasn't it?"

Naruto's eyes moved to him, eyes looking almost betrayed.

"Sensei, you know who my parents were as well!"

Hotaru glared at him, which for some reason made the silver-white haired man feel as if he'd treed on sensitive territory.

He also felt as if he'd failed his student, not only Naruto but Hotaru as well. It was strange for him, because Hotaru wasn't truly his student, but another him.

"Bullshit," Hotaru snapped, her eyes flashing red which alarmed Kakashi. "It may be kept secret from Konoha in general for now, but he deserves to know who his parents were. You people just don't seem to understand that our past is _all_ we have to identify with. Then when you've finished scorning us and spitting on the ground we walk, you wonder why we become unstable."

Kakashi gulped as the girl before him spoke and he knew she was right. He also knew who the we she spoke of was. His students might not, but he, the alternate Sasuke and even Naruto did.

She meant the Jinchuuriki's. Thinking on it, it was a miracle Konoha hadn't turned Naruto into the very monster they claimed he was.

He supposed he shouldn't be surprised Hotaru had it similar, if not worse if she'd been told who her parents were. And she seemed to act as if she'd been told when she was younger, probably around Naruto's age if her surprise was anything to go by.

Sasuke smirked, looking at his former teammate with what seemed almost like amusement.

"Still a bleeding heart, Hotaru," he said and Hotaru hissed back at him like an angry cat, or maybe fox was more accurate.

"I need to take you two to the Hokage," Kakashi said. "He'll decide if what you've said is true and what to do after that."

Looking at the alternate version of their sensei, Sasuke and Hotaru nodded.

Turning to Naruto, Hotaru smiled at him and promised she'd tell him about their parents once she had the time, and Sasuke simply grunted as he followed Kakashi and Hotaru towards the Hokage tower.

As team seven was left behind, all three knew nothing would be the same.


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: So, I'm sorry for the wait but here is the next chapter. **

**It would have been longer but I haven't decided on what to call Older Sasuke yet. I wouldn't mind your thoughts on that, the choices are at the end of the chapter. **

**One more thing, in most my stories Itachi is four years older than Sasuke. **

**I've learned that most likely isn't canon like I originally thought. I think he's actually six years older in canon, so in this story he will be six year older than Sasuke and the others of Team 7's generation, but unlike in canon the Massacre didn't happen until Sasuke was nine. **

**I think in canon he was about six or seven, though for the longest time I thought he was nine, which is why most my stories have the Massacre happening when he is nine. **

**I'm still not exactly sure which is canon but it's fanfiction, so either way. I just wanted to clear away any confusion anyone might have. **

**Anyways, I hope you enjoy the chapter.**

* * *

**Red Moon Arc.**

**Reality Is Just A Perception.**

**Chapter 2: Identities.**

There were a lot of things Sarutobi Hiruzen had seen and heard of. Dimension traveling shinobi were not one of them. But he was open minded, he was nothing if not thoughtful.

He could see clearly how the raven haired boy looked like a mirror image of Uchiha Sasuke if the boy were a few years older – he estimated this boy, claiming to be Uchiha Sasuke was around seventeen or eighteen, Itachi's age ironically.

He could also see how the girl beside him, with a considerable space between them.

Though, not one you'd expect from what he assumed might be enemies if Kakashi's account of their arrival was correct, could indeed be Uzumaki Naruto – excuse him, Hotaru.

Apparently where they came from, Naruto was not only a girl but had been names differently.

Hiruzen actually had a easier time believing the girl. Not only because of her resemblance to Naruto, and Namikaze Minato and Uzumaki Kushina, but because of certain attributes only someone in contact with the Kyuubi could attain.

Naruto had been born with the whisker marks because his mother had been the Jinchuuriki before him.

Though many of the blind fools in the village thought they were proof that he was indeed the Kyuubi reincarnated.

The seal for another, Kakashi had attested to have seen the seal keeping the Kyuubi locked away.

There was also the fact the name Uzumaki Hotaru had struck a cord with him.

No one but him knew it, but Uzumaki Hotaru had been the name of Kushina's mother. Kushina had talked before about names for the baby when she was pregnant.

If it was a boy they had decided on Naruto, and she had even thought of using the name even if it were a girl she was so fond of it.

But she was also hoping to one day name a daughter Hotaru in honor of her mother who had died when Uzushio was destroyed in the Third War.

All Hiruzen could think was they'd seen the traces of red hair and gone with Hotaru. Firefly did indeed suit the redhead.

"I assume you plan on staying in Konoha?" he finally asked.

Hotaru nodded, she had nowhere else to go, and she needed time to think on if there was a way to get her and Sasuke back home.

She was beginning to really doubt it and that saddened her. The only good thing was all her friends had counterparts here, yet they would never be the ones from her home world.

Not to mention her counterpart. He seemed so... lonely. Even with his team, which she could tell was still in the early stages of development, he was stuck in the abyss she'd found herself in for so long.

It had taken her a long time to drag herself out, and she could honestly say while she had her demons from her childhood, she was happier now. If only she could make Sasuke realize how insane he was being.

Sasuke on the other hand had different thoughts. He stayed silent, not saying anything, just giving his customary grunt.

Unlike Hotaru he could think of many places he'd rather be, but at the same time he was curious about this new world.

His counterpart, unlike Hotaru's, seemed the same as himself. They were nearly identical, he was just older than his counterpart.

Maybe it was because he realized Itachi was still alive in this world, unless the massacre had not happened or happened differently he was. Maybe he thought he could prevent that if he stayed?

He was still injured from his fight with Hotaru as well, but that wouldn't have stopped him if he really wanted to leave.

Mostly, he thought, it was because he knew Hotaru would follow him and attempt to drag him back.

If she couldn't get him to come back she was bound to follow him and continue to annoy him until he snapped and tried to kill her.

Then, they might accidentally make things worse.

"We are," Sasuke said, his voice never showing much emotion.

Hotaru's head snapped around to stare at him in shock and what appeared to be a little hope. He withheld a snort, she could think what she wanted.

What did he care if the redhead got her hopes up? He didn't (the part that said he did care he quickly squashed back into a box he kept most his emotions in now days).

"Good, I take it you'd like to keep you status as well," Hiruzen said, and the two twitched, though it was barely noticeable.

"Yes, that would be best. I would like to find a way to get us back home though, but I don't know if it's possible," Hotaru said, sighing.

The Sandaime nodded.

"If you're theory is correct about how you arrived then I doubt there is any way to reverse it. Unless you recreate the circumstances of how you arrived, but that may do more harm than good."

"Hn, that was what I thought as well," Sasuke said, glaring over at Hotaru momentarily.

Unfortunately, she noticed.

Glaring back Hotaru asked hotly, "What, this isn't my fault teme, if you'd just come back..."

"It was the foxes chakra that got us into this," he said, interrupting her.

"We don't know that!"

"Hn, you said it probably was yourself, dobe. Or have you forgotten already?"

Hotaru growled low in her throat, looking reading to rip his throat out. Her eyes were narrowed so far they made her look more like a angry fox.

_'Cute,' _Sasuke thought, and then mentally hit himself, and pushed that thought as far as he could and locked it in a metal box.

He didn't know what he was thinking, best to forget it he supposed. Though she was rather cute when she was angry and flustered. He'd always known that, he just chose to ignore that he knew that.

"Teme!"

Sasuke snorted.

"Original, you're still a dobe as expected."

Hiruzen watched this little rant, impressed that throughout it all Hotaru had gotten redder than Kushina when she fought like this with Minato, and that Sasuke had kept little to no emotion in his voice throughout.

He was definitely an Uchiha.

Ironically, it was Hotaru's parents that the two reminded him off, if only a little.

Very little seeing as Minato was never like Sasuke when it came to his emotions, and Kushina wasn't quite as calm as Hotaru seemed to be. It seemed Hotaru had a little more of her father in her personality than Naruto had inherited.

Not to say Hotaru didn't act like her mother, she did, she was just calmer. More level headed he supposed.

The Sandaime coughed, interrupting the two otherworlders debate, and drawing their attention back to him.

"Now, there is the problem of your identities. I think it would be best to keep who you truly are a secret."

Hotaru and Sasuke nodded, understanding why that was. The council for one, well neither teen trusted the council as far as they could throw them. Especially not the three elders.

If Sasuke had his way he'd kill them himself, again, and this time not just Danzo.

Who knew, maybe in the future he could do something about them. They were definitely the worst part of Konoha.

As for Hotaru, she would have agreed with Sasuke to some degree if she knew what he was thinking. She may not approve of killing them, but getting them out of power would be just as good to her.

"We could be shinobi who were on a classified long term mission, and just returned," Sasuke suggested.

Hiruzen nodded, the idea had merit.

"I see, so two...Jōnin?" he said but it sounded more like a question.

Hotaru blushed.

"Actually Jiji, because of events in our reality we never got past genin level. We had no time to retake the Chūnin Exams... but Tsunade-baachan, the Godaime Hokage, had mentioned getting me a field promotion for some time now."

It was true, Tsunade had been talking about it but she had to wait for the perfect mission that would warrant the kind of promotion to jōnin she needed.

When she'd helped take out Kakuzu had been the opportunity Tsunade needed, but the paperwork to finish the promotion would take a week.

A few days after this she fought Sasuke and now Hotaru was stuck in a new world.

A new version of Konoha.

Sasuke on the other hand, well he'd never cared to much about rank while he was in Sound. It meant little too him, all he had needed was power.

Hiruzen blinked, but nodded.

"Usually I would test you first, but I'll have no choice but to go ahead with making you jōnin now so the story will stick. As for your appearances, it is obvious who you look like, so we'll have to incorporate your younger counterparts."

"What do you mean?" Hotaru asked, tilting her head to the side a bit.

"You are both about seventeen, or eighteen, yes?"

"We're seventeen," Sasuke informed and the Hokage nodded.

"Good." The Hokage took a deep breath before he continued. "You two will be the older siblings of Uchiha Sasuke and Uzumaki Naruto, returning from a long term mission with Tsunade and Jiraiya of the sannin which doubled as a way to protect you both from enemies of your parents."

The two travelers blinked in surprise.

"What?" Hotaru asked. "But we're seventeen now... we'd have to be nearly seven or eight when we left in order for that to work. If not younger!"

Hiruzen laughed.

"Not necessarily. The mission was classified, there is no saying what it was. For those who snoop they will find the mission entitled nothing more than gathering intelligence on our enemies along with Jiraiya and Tsunade. Something two chūnin could easily do."

"Alright, I guess, but how exactly are we going to pull this off. If our counterparts are twelve, then Itachi should be around eighteen, a year older than me and Sasuke. That would mean our parents had to have had us during the Third Shinobi War," Hotaru said.

Sasuke couldn't help but be a little impressed she'd worked that out on her own, but than, he knew despite being the class dobe she wasn't truly stupid. She was actually very intelligent when she needed or wanted to be.

"Yes, but that isn't too unrealistic. Minato and Kushina began their relationship when they were sixteen I believe, and seeing as you are five years older than your 'siblings' they'd be nineteen when they had you. As for Sasuke's parents, well they were already married by the time Itachi was born and it wouldn't be too odd that with the war at its strongest they kept him a secret. Same can be said for your parents, Hotaru, seeing as Minato had many enemies who would want you dead. Still would to be honest."

Hotaru and Sasuke nodded.

They knew the war had lasted seven years, and when Itachi had been born the war had been going on for two years, meaning it must have been at it's strongest around that time. It made since, and when a Uchiha wanted to hide something they didn't fail. Itachi was a prime example of this.

Hotaru had no doubt her parents could have pulled it off, especially if they had the Hokage's help.

"And our training?" Sasuke asked.

"Done in secret by your parents once you turned four, and eventually finished by Jiraiya and Tsunade. I'll have to contact them to let them know of this, but other than them, and Team Seven I think it's best no one else know the truth," Sarutobi said.

Both teens nodded in agreement and Sasuke sighed.

He may have been curious and hadn't much choice but to stay in Konoha currently but now he realized he truly was trapped here now.

Not only would leaving label him a missing-nin... again, but Hotaru would go back to chasing after him to bring him back.

But on the other hand, maybe this would help him fix some of his mistakes.

"Hold up, what about Sasuke's name. I doubt his parents would name him Sasuke and then turn around five years later and name their next child the same thing."

"You have a point, I suppose he'll have to change his name. He can't go around with his own name."

Sasuke blinked and gritted his teeth in annoyance. He wasn't exactly fond of that idea, he happened to like his name and it was his name first.

"I guess that is all we can do, though I doubt any name would really suit the bastard," Hotaru muttered loudly.

Sasuke rolled his eyes at his ex-teammate but couldn't help but couldn't help but agree.

"Do you have any brilliant ideas, dobe?" he asked, almost as if mocking her.

Hotaru looked at him and smirked.

"I give you two options Sasuke, Sōsuke or Izuna. Which will it be, teme?"

Sasuke began to regret asking, he should have known she actually have thought of something.


	3. Chapter 3

**AN: So, another chapter. **

**I want to thank those who have reviewed and I hope you all enjoy this chapter as well. **

**Another thing, I usually don't bother with the whole split chakra thing when it comes to the Kyuubi as I find it only complicates things for my stories. **

**But in this one it helps to explain how Hotaru and Naruto could both have Kyuubi sealed in them if and when she needs to use Kurama's chakra and questions are asked.**

**Oh, and from now on when I say Sasuke, I mean younger Sasuke and when I say Izuna, I mean older Alternate Sasuke. **

* * *

**Red Moon Arc.**

**Reality Is Just A Perception.**

**Chapter 3: Return Of The Unknown.**

Sasuke twitched once more as he looked at the redhead.

"Really?" he inquired. "That's the best you could do?"

Hotaru chuckled, slowly grinning. For a minute it was almost as if they were twelve again, back when everything was different.

He wouldn't admit it, but he sort of missed it. Sort of.

"They're good names, Sasuke, now choose!" she said, pointing a almost accusing finger at him.

He sighed.

"Sōsuke is too similar to my own. I know my parents well enough to know they'd not name two of their sons so closely to each other," Sasuke said.

Hotaru nodded, smiling.

"Izuna it is then!" she said, excitedly with a smirk and poorly hiden mischievousness.

"Uchiha Izuna it is then," Sarutobi said, pulling out some papers from his desk. "May I ask, Hotaru, why you suggested that name?"

Hotaru blinked.

"What?"

"Dobe," Sasuke – now Izuna – said, snorting. "Why did you choose Izuna as one of the names. It's a rather famous name among Konoha ninja."

"Oh," Hotaru said in realization. "Actually I chose it because, I like the name, it suits Sasu...Izuna – that'll take some getting used to."

Sasu – excuse me, Izuna's brow twitched.

"The point?" he asked.

"Oh, yeah. It's also the name of Madara's brother, and I figure it may piss Madara off. I do enjoy pissing that ancient douche-bag off," Hotaru said, smirking. "Oh, and I think it means something to do with the least weasel and it's subspecies. Along with a mountain, tengu and some fox spirit, or something along those lines."

She shrugged.

"I really don't know, it's just what I found when I was bored. Anyways, it really is a name that suits him," she added.

Izuna glared, frowning.

Leave it to Hotaru to choose a name that could be used as a means of payback. Despite how innocent she seemed at times he knew the redhead held a grudge like no other, and had a temper that rivaled a volcano.

Sarutobi chuckled, remembering how infamous Kushina was with her creative ideals of revenge and pranks. She was very much like a Kitsune in her love for mischief making and pranks.

He was glad Naruto had inherited it in a lesser extent, from the looks of it Hotaru's reality was not so lucky.

"I will have papers and records made up today. For now I'd like you two to keep a low profile," Sarutobi said. "For now you both will stay in the Uchiha compound with Sasuke."

Hotaru blinked at how strange it was for someone to say Sasuke and not mean the one she'd grown up with and recently been playing some sort of demented game of cat and mouse... or was it snake and fox?

She shuddered, she much preferred to think of Sasu – ahhg, so annoying – Izuna as a different animal.

A raven, or a wolf. Hell, even a weasel would be better suited to him than a snake in her mind.

But then, she hated snakes with a passion that surpassed even her hate for Uchiha Madara. That was saying something, because she really hated that man.

"There is something I am concerned about, Hotaru," the Hokage began, looking at her seriously. "The Kyuubi... I assume it is still with you."

"He," Naruto corrected, snickering at his raised eyebrow. "Kurama is definitely a male, jiji. Bijū may be masses of chakra but they are still gender specific. Though all but Nibi are male."

Sarutobi blinked in surprise but said nothing else on the matter. You learned something new everyday.

"And he did come back with me, though I think he's sleeping or something seeing as I haven't heard from him yet. I wouldn't be surprised, the fight just before we arrived was pretty intense."

Izuna snorted. That was an understatement.

"Kurama?" Sarutobi asked slowly, trying to wrap his head around that revelation.

Hotaru looked at him as if he'd asked if the sun was warm.

"You didn't think Kyuubi was his name did you?" she asked, and she sighed. "Even the biju have names, Kyuubi is just his title."

Shaking her head, Hotaru finished.

"Anyways. The point is, I don't know how exactly but we're able to coexist here. Two Jinchuuriki of the same bijū I mean. I think it has to do with the fact we didn't go back in time, but across realities. Considering I may end up using his chakra in the future you may want to come up with a story. That I was there for the sealing and my father split the chakra, sealing the Yin in me and the Yang in Naruto."

"Kyuubi has two chakra's?"

Hotaru nodded.

"Yes, Kyuubi isn't split by his chakra any longer within me, and I never really understood how he had two different chakras that could even be split. It was returned during an event in our reality, a war, which was surprising for us since Shinigami-sama hardly releases what he rightfully devours. According to Kurama, he owed him one for some reason."

Hotaru shrugged, she hardly understood what Kurama meant sometimes.

All she knew was she got an power increase, or more like Kyuubi did, when the Yin chakra returned to her from her father.

There was a reason the chakras weren't usually separated, it could cause an imbalance later in life and become fatal.

Naruto she was a little worried about, if her father had split the chakras in this reality as well.

If so she'd have to be sure to warn her counterpart turned little brother the danger of over using Kurama's chakra.

Without it being complete it was even more corrosive and could cause him internal damage that could shorten his life span.

Kurama may be able to help her with some sort of seal or jutsu to get his counterparts Yin Chakra back, eventually.

She hadn't had it so bad, but she was a girl, Yin was something she made herself naturally.

It still had effects on her though and before Kurama had his complete chakra back he hadn't been able to heal her, with it back he'd been able to heal her cells and restore her lifespan to it original state.

Sometimes people forgot bijū were the closest things to gods on earth they had, though they weren't gods themselves they were still insanely powerful.

"I see," Sarutobi said, shaking his head at the revelations. "I will take your suggestion, though I will keep quiet until the time I have no choice but to explain. Until then.."

Sarutobi stood and retrieved two jōnin vest, the normal green. Handing them to the two in front of him he also took out two hitai-ate's and handed them over, noticing theirs were not present.

Hotaru happily took hers, though Izuna hesitated but finally, with a sigh, he took the offered items.

"Good, now I think the two of you should go to your new home, though temporary for Hotaru. I will work on digging out someplace for you and Naruto to stay as his apartment isn't big enough."

Hotaru smiled.

"Just give me the keys to the Namikaze compound... we'll stay there, but for now I don't mind staying with Sasuke and Izuna."

"I don't know if that is a good idea, Hotaru. No one knows of Naruto's heritage but me, and a select few others..."

Hotaru glared, a frown marring her usually bright face.

"I don't care. As I told Kakashi, our past links, like our parents, are all we have to remind ourselves we're human. Naruto probably has it worse than me, since I knew who my parents were when I was his age. Add to the fact it is painfully obvious who he is related to, I am shocked no one else has realized it yet," she said. "I will be telling Naruto of our parents, he deserves to know."

Sarutobi sighed.

"I thought it best he didn't know, you must understand. Minato had enemies, and so did Kushina in her own right. Though not near as many. I was concerned it would go to Naruto's head."

Hotaru nodded.

"I understand that, you feared he'd gloat over having the Yondaime as his father. But you have to realize he's more mature than you give him credit for. Jiji in our reality didn't tell me until I was a genin, after our first C-Rank mission. But I'd always had my suspicions and I'd known about my mother since I was eight."

"I see," he said. "I understand, I'll trust you to handle the repercussions of revealing you and Naruto as the Yondaime's legacies."

Hotaru nodded.

"I'll protect Naruto with my life," she said. "And train him too, if the Academy is anything like it was in my world they didn't try to teach him much."

Hotaru and Izuna stood, bowed respectively and left after one final dismissal from the Sandaime Hokage.

'Minato, Kushina... I think things are finally looking up for Naruto,' he thought as he turned to look at the fourth's portrait.

* * *

Hotaru and Izuna found the genin of team seven at Ichiraku's, much to Hotaru's delight.

Though still not cleaned up from their fight, the two had made the best of what they had.

Hotaru had returned her hita-ate to her forehead, though temporarily seeing as she usually wore it around her neck.

Izuna had yet to put his on, she supposed she should have known he'd be hesitant to ware it after so many years.

Both had thrown their new jōnin flack jackets on, if only to over some of the damage to their clothes.

"So what do we call you?" Naruto asked, looking at the older version of the Teme.

Izuna looked at the counterpart, turned little brother, of the redhead beside him and scowled, his expression never moving an inch. At least not to anyone who couldn't read below the surface of emotionless mask.

It wasn't easy to get past Izuna's though, even when he was twelve... though back then his emotions were more open. Not quite as guarded.

"Izuna," he said. "My name is now Uchiha Izuna."

Sasuke – Hotaru was right, it would take getting used to when it came to calling someone else by a name he'd grown up with for seventeen years – twitched at his words.

He was surprised, his new little brother was used to being the only Uchiha.

It probably didn't help he now had a new older brother... back then he'd hated even the mention of brothers, much less regarding him.

It didn't seem he and Sasuke were that different at all.

Besides the fact this Sasuke didn't have Hotaru in the same way he did. He and Hotaru had been friends before the Massacre, it didn't look as if Sasuke and Naruto had that benefit.

Though he saw the beginning of a friendship, or maybe it was the beginning of getting out of denial that they weren't friends?

He shook those thoughts, thinking of the past never helped him. Izuna had pretty much burned that bridge with Hotaru, or had been trying to burn it for years now.

Hotaru was stubborn, it looked as if she was doing everything she could to stop him from severing their bonds. Or maybe she was right and bonds weren't as easily severed as he liked to believe.

It didn't matter, they weren't in their world anymore.

"And I'm Hotaru, as you know," Hotaru told them, smiling. "I'll be staying in the Uchiha compound until Jiji can dig up dad's keys to the house and take care of our papers. After that Naruto and I will move to the family compound."

Naruto blinked in shock, his sixth bowl of ramen left forgotten for the moment as he stared at his new older sister with wide blue eyes.

"Family compound? You mean we have a clan?" he asked.

Hotaru laughed.

"Of course, dad was the last of his and mom was the last of her. Both the heirs, so we are the last our both our clans."

Sasuke and Sakura stared at their teammate in surprise, one more hidden than the other who wore the expression openly.

"We shouldn't talk about this in public, dobe," Izuna said, as he stood, having finished his food. "I'm gonna go. Find a empty place to stay in he compound."

Hotaru finished her fifth bowl of ramen and stood as well.

"I'm coming too," she said, and then turned to the three genins. "We really need to clean up as well. We'll see you when you get in Sasuke, and you two tomorrow I guess."

Izuna sighed and began leaving, and Hotaru glared at his back before waving at Team Seven and following after Izuna at a fast jog.

"This is just... unreal," Sakura said, blinking.

"Hn," Sasuke grunted.

"I think it's cool!" Naruto cheered, grinning happily at the fact he had family, even if it was a older counterpart of himself.


End file.
